I've been thinking about purchasing some Mitchell's Wool Fat soap. I have sensitive skin so I thought this may be a good choice. Any users out there that would like to give some comments on this stuff? The good, the bad, or the ugly?
i have kent soap (which is the same as its made by MWF) I find it great lathers really quickly, although results vary depending on how hard your water is, if its reall hard you may struggle getting it to lather, Oh and dont use really hot water as you can breakdown the lanolin in the soap But for me and many others its my goto soap, as always your millage may vary. But a puck on its own is cheap enough to take the risk it it really does last a long time.
I love the stuff and have never had any problems getting it to lather. We have pretty soft water so that may or may not be the reason for my ease of lathering, but in any case, it works great for me. It is a bit pricey, but I agree, with Dean, that it lasts a long time.
A bit pricey, whats the cost in USA? for just the soap here its less than £6.00 if your getting with the dish then the price shoots up. excuse my ignorance of USA prices, Granted I know it a uk product (and only about 30 miles from my house)
It costs $13 at most places and that is for 4.4 ounces, not including shipping. And the mother of them all is a whopping $22 from Amazon. Not including shipping, from most places, it works out to be about $2.95 per oz. (approx 1.89 GBP) The fine soap that JoAnna makes for our very own TSD store works out to be about $2 per ounce. (approx. 1.28 GBP) Once you add shipping on to it it can get pricey. Someone may have some better information than I do regarding a better price for the "fat", but from what I can see, that is the right of it. Not outrageous, but not cheap either.
Many folks love it and have no problem lathering it. Some folks, self included, find it to be a finicky soap. By that I mean that if you don't get the water/soap ratio juuuuuust right, you wind up with poor lather. I've hit the perfect ratio a few times so I know it can be done. But I refuse to fight with a soap to try and get a good lather every time. I stick with soaps that are a bit more consistent.
Thanks guys for the input. Does the lanolin in the soap leave your face feeling greasy at all or do you find that it washes pretty clean.
Not greasy at all. At least not for me. No, when I rinse off there isn't a trace of residue or any greasiness just a pleasant smell. In fact it feels like you just washed your face. Fresh and clean, ahhhhh.
I use MWF it has a very distinct personality. I made the mistake of getting it too warm once and the soap would not lather. I have found that it needs the right amount of water to lather properly. Too much and won't lather very well. I have found that is the one soap that you need to be precise with your brush wetness. It is a good soap for sensitive skin and will provide a slick surface for shaving. It does leave the face feeling irritation free.
I find that a little bit more water and a little more work get you where you want to be with MWF. I also find it face lathers much better than it bowl lathers. Load the brush when it is shaken to damp then apply to your face and then wet the tips of the brush and work and repeat until you have a good peaky lather. MWF is good but you definitely have to figure it out.
ive had nothing but good results with the soap, it dont seem to matter if its uk/polish water or if i leave it for 2 weeks, but as Bob say's I do face lather with it, even though that means not using my scuttle, not really tried the Kent BK12 on it yet, Im using my Omega boar.
Okay gentlemen, here are the four simple steps to using MWF and making lather in a scuttle with a badger brush. The brush used here is the D.R. Harris H2 Best Badger (Rooney 1/2). Your step 4 can be whatever you use for an after shave. This just happens to be my favorite.
Holy smokes Johnny... that is a nice lather! If I find out that you faked it and used Kool Whip for the pic I'm going to be very upset. I face lather most of the time, sometimes I resort to a bowl. I don't usually get so much soap on my brush during the loading process but of course I'm not using MWF yet either. My soap is rock hard and I really have to work it but my technique is improving. This thread has inspired me to give MWF a whirl. I love experimenting with soaps - it's a relatively inexpensive risk to take. @alpla444 I recently used an Omega brush for the first time. It was just a basic entry level one but I was impressed, much better than my brush. I'm definitely going to be picking up an Omega next time I go brush shopping.
No sir, no Kool Whip here. 100% genuine MWF. Check my SoS thread tomorrow morning, I will whip you up some "FAT".
I'm a "Fat Lover". I have no clue what guys like Steve are talking about when they claim MWF doesn't lather consistantly. I have nothing but magnificent chases with MWF. That said, I know a few people have a hard time with it. Based on a couple surveys I've seen on shaving site, you have about an 80% chance of loving this soap, a 2 % chance of finding it just so-so, and about an 18% chance of hating it. We had a survey here asking what everyone's favorite soap was, and MWF was the most common favority soap. So, it's a risk and you need to decide if it's worth risking the roughly $18 it costs after shipping.
I never realised that it was abit pricy over your way, i hear people saying L'Occitane cade soap is cheap, i can get nearly 2 pucks of MWF for the price of one CADE, anyway I think even at your price I still pay it, id still be happy and it would still be my fav+goto soap
